Racing Coverage

The sense of urgency at Hendrick Motorsports was transformed into relief and celebration Sunday when Kasey Kahne won at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Everyone under the Hendrick umbrella pulled together to get their fourth, and final, driver from the organization into next week’s Chase for the Championship.

When Kahne pulled into Victory Lane, he was greeted by team drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

And the man responsible for creating one of the most formidable racing empires in NASCAR history was impressed with the undeniable alliance of all four groups.

“I think that shows the kind of chemistry we have with our drivers, and they know they have to race each other, and they want to beat each other, but they were pulling for Kasey to get in,” Hendrick said.

“I looked up and saw them all standing there, and I was really proud of the organization when I saw that.”

Hendrick had every reason to be happy. All four of his drivers will be in the playoffs with 10 combined wins. The next-best team, Penske Racing, has six wins.

Johnson already has six championships, while Gordon has four. Hendrick also won a championship in 1992 with Terry Labonte, giving him a record 11 championships.

With 25 percent of the drivers in the Chase, he’s in good shape to add another banner.

“I think that we have a really good shot,” Hendrick said. “I think that it’s the best balance that we have had.”

Johnson, Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. have three wins each. Johnson is trying to tie Richard Petty’s and Dale Earnhardt’s record of seven championships. At 44, Gordon has been going through a youthful revival reminiscent of his last championship in 2001. And Earnhardt Jr. is having one of his best seasons.

Now Hendrick can add Kahne into the mix.

But don’t expect him to pick one to win it all.

“Look, I don’t have any favorites,” he said. “I would love to see Dale get his first championship. I would love to see Jimmie get No. 7. I’d love to see Jeff get No. 5.

“I care about them all. We give them each the best equipment. There’s reasons I’d like each of them win it. Let the best man that does the best job end up with the trophy.”

“I have the best teammates and Mr. H gives us everything that we need,” Kahne said. “They never gave up, and we ended up getting the win, and feel good about that. We can just build off of it.”